We condemn the brutal assault by members of the Sri Ram Sene on young women in a pub in Mangalore, Karnataka, on Saturday, 24 January 2009. We are shocked by the response of the State administration, police, and political leadership, some of whom have dismissed this as a 'minor incident', while others have blatantly justified the violence. We believe that such threats to the democratic freedom and human rights of citizens, cannot be treated as 'minor'. This incident, and the unabashed justifications of it are part of a larger trend to curb the freedoms of women in the name of a regressive and distorted notion of Indian culture and tradition.
To strongly condemn the disturbing trend of violence against women and 'moral policing' as a means to enforce a particularly regressive interpretation of culture, there will be a protest on Tuesday 3rd February'09 Outside Karnatak Bhavan, Chanakyapuri (near Samrat hotel) at 3:00 p.m. Do join us... And please forward to fellow activists and friends. In solidarity, Jagori, Nirantar, Saheli, Sama -- Nirantar Resource Centre for Gender & Education B-64 (2nd Floor), Sarvodaya Enclave New Delhi 110 017 India
